Hernando pulls away from Wesley Chapel

The Leopards sweep four head-to-head matches against defending champion Wesley Chapel to capture the title.

WESLEY CHAPEL -- In finishing second in the past two district tournaments, Hernando coach Teri Sellers found consolation in seeing that the runner-up trophy was really only an inch or so shorter than the one given to the champions.

On Tuesday, she realized how much bigger it really is.

Hernando went 5-1 in the finals Tuesday, sweeping four showdowns with host Wesley Chapel to run away with the Class 2A, District 9 championship by 18-13.

"To have this happen for this team, I'm ecstatic," said Sellers, whose team hosts District 10 champion Sebring in a region showdown Friday. "We knew we needed a big day, and this is a great feeling. I'm so excited for the girls."

Hernando's only finals loss came at No. 1 singles, where Hudson's Meighan O'Connor, undefeated as a sophomore, beat the Leopards' Katie Werner in straight sets. Werner exacted revenge hours later, combining with fellow senior Terra Sickler to hand O'Connor and Rebecca Arico their first loss of the season, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles. That win advanced Werner and Sickler to next week's state tournament in Tampa, and O'Connor will compete there as well.

The Leopards' win Tuesday wasn't as easy as the score would indicate. Hernando entered the finals with a 13-12 lead against Wesley Chapel, the defending district champion. Hernando swept three singles matches with the Wildcats, getting wins from junior Allison Solomon, freshman Chelsea Clark and sophomore Jill Matherly at Nos. 3, 4 and 5 singles.

Clark trailed 5-1 in her first set before rallying to win in a tiebreaker, and she paired with Solomon to win at No. 2 doubles. Wesley Chapel's lone finals win came at No. 2 singles, where Alexis Mecca rallied from one set down to beat Hudson's Arico and finish the season unbeaten in singles.

"We've never won by this margin before," Central coach Joe Nicolai said. "We had a goal of coming in here to win this with 21 points and we worked hard for it. Our philosophy is that winning isn't everything, but losing is not an option."

Central (13-2) had 21 points, easily topping the eight scored by runner-up Springstead. Land O'Lakes and Ridgewood tied for third with six. The Bears host the District 8 winner Friday.

In doubles, top-seeded Etchison and Kohls (11-2) took the No. 1 title and second-seeded Howard and Cho (10-1) won at No. 2.

The last time a team scored 21 points in a district meet involving teams from Pasco or Hernando counties was 2001 by Countryside. The 3A-9 field that season at East Lake also included Gulf, Ridgewood, Land O'Lakes and East Lake.

-- STEVE LEE

2A-6: Lecanto amplifies sterling regular season

LECANTO -- Four singles crowns, two doubles titles and another district championship.

For Lecanto, it was a typical day.

With a dominating performance (again), the Panthers claimed their seventh consecutive district title with 18 points, seven better than Crystal River. Lecanto entered 16-0 and has won 83 of its past 84 regular-season matches, so anything short of a convincing win would have been a surprise.

"They played well," coach Joan Roberts said. "Everybody did what they were supposed to do."